Rice University computer scientist Moshe Vardi is stepping up his game. After years of speaking out about the unintended ills of technology, he is marshaling support to directly address them through a campuswide Initiative on Technology, Culture and Society.

Rice Architecture alumna Veronica Gomez understands the debate over the proposed wall between the U.S. and Mexico, but doesn’t believe the debaters fully understand what life is like for those who live and work in proximity to the border. She made her case in this year’s round of graduate thesis presentations.

It’s not every day a college student gets the opportunity to perform with the likes of Yo-Yo Ma, but Rice junior Nina Pitts did just that last month as one of 76 students selected to participate in a prestigious international music festival.

The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 placed a $10,000 limit on the amount of state and local taxes people may deduct on their federal income tax returns. One year after the law's passage, this so-called SALT deduction limit remains one of its most contested provisions, according to an expert in the Center for Public Finance at Rice’s Baker Institute for Public Policy.